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Kenzo Kies
Credit: AS Saint-Etienne/X
NEED TO KNOW
- Soccer player Kenzo Kies, 21, drowned after swimming in the Rhône River during France's extreme heatwave
- Kies played for En Avant Guingamp and previously trained with Lyon and Saint-Étienne youth teams
- French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has reported 40 heatwave-related drownings since June 18
A 21-year-old soccer player has died from drowning after jumping into a river to cool down during a summer heatwave.
Kenzo Kies was swimming with three friends in the Rhône River in the city of Lyon on Monday, June 22, as temperatures reached 104 degrees in parts of France, according to the BBC.
His three friends were rescued by first responders who attended the location at 5:30 p.m. local time, but Kies was the last to be found and pulled from the river in a critical condition, the BBC reported.
He was later declared “brain dead,” according to French outlet L'Equipe and died in the hospital, per the BBC.
The incident occurred near the Parc de la Feyssine, where swimming in the Rhône is prohibited, according to French publication BFM RMC Sport.
Kies played soccer for the French team En Avant Guingamp, which is in Ligue 2, the second-highest division of professional soccer in the country.
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Aerial view of the River Rhone in the French city of Lyon
Credit: Getty
His team paid tribute to Kies on X, writing: “En Avant Guingamp has had the sorrow of learning of the death of Kenzo Kies, a young player with the Club. A Guingamp native since last summer, he was playing this season with the reserve team.”
“En Avant Guingamp extends its most sincere condolences to Kenzo Kies's family as well as to all his loved ones, and offers them its full support during this painful ordeal,” it added.
Kies trained for many years through the youth set-ups at leading local soccer clubs Lyon and Saint-Étienne before he joined En Avant Guingamp.
On Wednesday, June 24, Saint-Étienne also released a statement on X, which said: “The Green Generation is in mourning. A resident of the Robert-Herbin Sports Center for seven years, a talented player and discreet young man appreciated by all, Kenzo Kies has lost his life in dramatic circumstances.”
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The River Rhone in the French city of Lyon
Credit: Getty
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It added: “AS Saint-Étienne extends its most sincere condolences to his loved ones as well as to those — teammates and coaches alike — who shared a piece of his Stéphanois journey. Kenzo, in the corridors of L'Étrat, no one will ever forget you.”
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said 40 people have drowned in heatwave-related deaths in France since Thursday, June 18, according to the BBC.
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Saint Clair railway viaduct in the Lyon suburn of Caluire
Credit: Getty
Lecornu said that the deaths were “mostly young people,” according to French outlet Libération.
“It's not something to be taken lightly, going swimming in unsupervised areas during a heatwave," Sports and Youth Minister Marina Ferrari told French radio, per the BBC.
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